Earlier today, I posted a video from a commercial for The National Urban Coalition — a bunch of celebrities singing "Let the Sunshine In." A lot of you have researched this spot and written to tell me things about it. It was filmed in the latter portion of 1969 and aired on TV in 1970. Josh Logan directed the spot with Mitch Miller (who was also part of the chorus) conducting the group…though I suspect another, non-celeb group of singers had already recorded the vocal and the stars just lip-synced.
Among those who participated were, in alphabetical order: Cannonball Adderley, Robert Alda, Joseph Allen, Cleveland Amory, Jim Backus, Orson Bean, Texas State Senator Joseph Bernal, Dan Blocker, Ralph Bunche, David Canary, Bobby Capo, Topper Carew, Johnny Carson, Lisle Carter, Peggy Cass, Ray Charles, Roberto Clemente, Frederick Close, Miriam Colon, Carlos Conde, Robert Contreras, Congressman John Conyers, Bob Cousy, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Fernando del Rio, Jack Dempsey, Mildred Dunnock, Pamela Eldred, Jerry Enomoto, James Farmer, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Henry Fonda, Arlene Francis, Herman Gallegos, John Gardner, Will Geer, Arthur Goldberg, Harry Golden, Joel Grey, Merv Griffin, Fannie Lou Hamer, Richard Hatcher, Andrew Heiskell, Gustav Heningburg, Bill Hosokawa, Chet Huntley, Senator Daniel K. Inouye, Anne Jackson, John Johnson, Stacy Keach, Harry Kitano, Jack Klugman, Joshua Logan, Myrna Loy, Earl Lucas, Keye Luke, Ray Martel, Doug McClure, Ali MacGraw, Butterfly McQueen, Dina Merrill, Mitch Miller, Joseph Monserrat, Greg Morris, Leonard Nimoy, Jerry Orbach, Gordon Parks, Jacob Potofsky, Leontyne Price, Carl Reiner, John D. Rockefeller III, John Russell, Bayard Rustin, William Seneca, James Shigeta, David Susskind, Abe Tapia, Franklin Thomas, Gwen Verdon, Danny Villanueva, Rev. C.T. Vivian, Eli Wallach, Roy Wilkins, Flip Wilson and Whitney Young.
It's interesting who they chose to show on-screen and who you'd never know were there. I easily spotted Johnny Carson, David Susskind, Peggy Cass, Merv Griffin, Joel Grey, Ray Charles, Chet Huntley, Henry Fonda, Dina Merrill, Gwen Verdon, Arlene Francis, Leonard Nimoy and a few others. I'll bet a lot of folks were ticked off that they didn't get a smidgen of screen time. Anyone spot Carl Reiner in there?
The message, as stated in publicity materials for the spot, was merely the tagline: "Love: It Comes in All Colors." I don't mean to disparage what was obviously a good faith effort to spread a benevolent thought but I wonder if this had even the slightest impact on even one human being's racial sensitivity. The worst bigot I ever knew personally would have looked at this and said something like, "Hey, I know there are people of different colors and that they love each other. I just don't want any stuck-up TV stars telling me I have to love them."
Still, it's a mesmerizing bit of video. Thanks to all those who wrote me with additional info, including Steve Thompson, B. Baker and Phil Kanton.